Policeman&#39;s club and cartridge firing mechanism



April 1953 E. c. BORDERS 2,634,535

POLICEMANS CLUB AND CARTRIDGE FIRING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 7, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET l Ellis 6. Borders IN V EN TOR.

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E. C. BORDERS POLICEMAN'S CLUB AND CARTRIDGE FIRING MECHANISM 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 E "is C. Borders Filed Aug. 7, 1950 INVENTOR.

BY (yaw 3m Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED sures ram" OFFICE POLICEMANS CLUB AND CARTRIDGE FIRING MECHANISM Ellis 0. Borders, Mil-ledgeville, Ga, assignor of fifty per cent to Arnold L. Parker, Milledgeville, Ga.

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in policemens clubs, and more particularly to the type of policeman-s club wherein means are provided for firing a cartridge such as a tear gas or the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel policemans club which is of hollow construction and wherein means are provided within the hollow construction for housing a tear gas bomb with means for firing the same through the end of the club.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the novel arrangement whereby the firing mechanism is actuated for discharging the percussion cap 01 the cartridge.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of adjustable means whereby the force with which the firing pin strikes the cartridge may be adjusted.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a resilient means for normally urging the lever actuating means to engagement with the plunger means for holding the same. in retracted position.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent from the detailed description to follow. In the description as well as in the claim, parts are at times identified by specific names for convenience, but such nomenclature is intended to be as generic in its application to analogous parts as the prior art will permit.

The best form in which I have contemplated applying my invention is illustrated in the aocompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the policeman's club;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view of a portion of Figure 2 enlarged and showing the lever means engaged with the plunger for holding the same in retracted position;

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 5-5 of Figure 2; and

Figure 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 66 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, the numeral It designates generally includes a substantially hi-bular housing means" l2, 2. plunger and firing pin means 14, retractable" lever actuating means i6, and cartridge holding means I8.

The policemans club It and the substantially tubular housing I2 are substantially of eonvem tional form, having a handle portion 20 and a club portion 22. The handle portion Zll'i's provided with an annular enlarged portion 24 form ing the end of the club, and the handle portion 26 is provided with an internally threaded bore 26 and an enlarged recess 28. A partition wall 31? is threadably engaged within the internally threaded bore 26 and is provided with a centraliy' disposed aperture 32 through which a firing pin' is adapted to project. The partition wall 30 is provided with an axially extending tubular por-. tion 34 in which is securely mounted the thin walled sleeve 36 which extends substantially the length of the handle portion 20. The thin walled sleeve 36 is held within the tubular extension 34 by means of the set screw 38 and is provided with an opening it in the upper side thereof'for' a purpose to be hereinafter described.

At an intermediate portion of the thin walled sleeve 36', an annular ring 42 is secured thereon by means of the set screw 44, andthe" annularring' is provided with a recess 46 for receiving one end of a fiat spring strip 48.

The handle portion 26 is provided with an opening 56 with a sheet metal plate 52 secured therearound by means of screws 5%. Mounted on the sheet metal plate 52 is a plungerhousing 58' provided with the longitudinally extendingpab allel grooves 58. Slid-abl'y disposed within the grooves 58 is a reciprocable cap- 69 having a an: ger opening 62 at its upper side.

Reciprocably mounted within the openings i n the sheet metal plate 52 and in the handle por tion at 50 is a plunger 64' which is engageab le by a finger of the policeman when the opening 62 in the cap 66 is directly above the plunger 64.

Pivotally mounted on the elongated sleeve extension 34 is the retractable lever means l6 which includes the lever 66 having one end engageable by the plunger 64 and its other end angulated at 58 and adapted to extend through the opening 40 in the thin walled sleeve 36.

The open end 10 of the handle portion 20 is closed by the adjustable closure 12 which is threadably engaged within the bore 26 having recesses M in its outer surface for engagement by a tool for rotation thereby. The inner surface of the closure 12 is provided with a spring tridge holding means I8. Intermediate its ends,

the plunger rod 80 is formed with an enlarged annular abutment shoulder 66 and a frusto-conical portion 88 integral therewith with its smaller end adjacent the abutment shoulder 86. Juxtaposed to the larger diameter of the frusto-conical portion 88 is an enlarged annular portion 90 which is adapted to abut the partition wall 30 for limiting movement of the plunger rod 60 in a firing direction.

A means is provided for resiliently urging the plunger means towards a firing position and includes a resilient coil spring 92 which encircles the plunger rod 80 and has its ends abutting the abutment shoulder 86 and the closure I2 at the recess I6.

- The cartridge holding means I8 includes the elongated tubular club portion 94 which is provided with an enlarged bore 96 for receiving a cartridge, the shoulder 98 between the bores 96 and 91 forming an abutment for the front end of the cartridge. The tubular member 94 is threaded at its ends, the inner ends being adapted to be threadably received in the outer end of the :handle portion at I00. A plurality of leather rings I02 envelop the tubular portion 94 forming the clubbing portion of the policemans club; Retaining rings I06 are threadably engaged on each end of the tubular member 94 and abut the leather rings I02 for holding the same together.

' From the foregoing description, taken in conjunction with the drawings, it is believed that the operation of the policemans club of the present invention will be readily understood by one skilled in theart. When it is desired to load the policemans club, a cartridge is inserted into the cartridge-receiving means I8 and the handle portion is then threaded onto the club portion at I00. The plunger means is, of course, in its rearmost position, as shown in Figure 3, with the angulated end 68 of the lever 66 extending through the opening 40 and engaged against the abutment shoulder 86 and frusto-conical portion 68- of the plunger means l4. The closure I2 has been threaded into the bore 26, giving the desired compression to the spring 92 for firing purposes. The cap 60 which is slidably disposed within the member 56 on the handle portion of theclub is in the position shown in Figure 3 so that the plunger 64 will not be inadvertently pressed, firing the pin against the cartridge and causing an accident thereby. When the policeman desires to fire a cartridge, he merely slides the cap 60 so that the opening 62 is over the plunger 64. He then merely presses the plunger 64 which pivots the lever 66, disengaging the angulated portion 68 from the abutment shoulder and frusto-conical portion of the plunger rod 80. The spring 92 will then effect movement of the plunger and firing pin so that the firing pin 84 extends through the bore 32 and strikes the percussion cap of the cartridge positioned within the cartridge holding means I8. The tear gas or the like will then be expelled through the bore 91 towards its target.

Of course, the handle portion is provided with a conventional handle strap at II.

Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

A policemans club and cartridge firing mechanism comprising a substantially tubular, elongated housing having a handle portion at one end, cartridge holding means in said housing, plunger means in said housing, a firing pin integral with said plunger means and extending in the direction of said cartridge holding means, resilient means for urging said firing pin toward said cartridge holding means, retractible means for releasably holding said plunger means away what is from said cartridge holding means, said plunger mounted in said housing, an annular abutmentshoulder on said rod, the portion of said rod adjacent said shoulder being frusto-conical in form, said retractible means including a lever pivotally mounted in said housing and having an angulated end for engagement with said shoulder and said frusto-conical portion, a plunger reciprocably mounted in the wall of. said housing and engaging the end of said lever remote from said angulated end for pivoting the angulated end out of engagement with said elongatedv rod, 2. plunger housing secured to said first mentioned housing and having an opening therein, said plunger extending through said opening, a cap slidably mounted on said plunger housing and overlying said plunger, said cap having an opening therein providing access to said plunger when the cap is-slid to one position.

ELLIS C. BORDERS.

References Cited in-the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,681,172 Cocho Aug. 21'; 1928 1,858,601 Sedgley May 17-, 1932 2,042,934 Gill June 2,1936 2,455,101 Stevens' Nov. 30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS f Number. Country Date 327,894 Great Britain Aug. 17, 1930 

